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Monthly Archives: December 2012

I just want to say a quick thank you to all you Handmade By Me followers and visitors! Thanks for being so wonderfully encouraging and supportive throughout 2012. Handmade By Me has had an amazing year and it couldn’t have ended in a better way. There are lots of exciting things in the pipeline for next year so please keep supporting, and I hope that I will have some lovely things to show you along the way. Wishing you all a merry Christmas (if you celebrate)…otherwise wishing you a merry festive season! I hope you all get some time off to relax and enjoy.

For anyone who is looking to get in touch with me I will be back in business on the 4th of Jan, until then…

For those of you who have not heard about this absolutely beautiful guesthouse in Cape Town you are in for a treat. It is exquisite. The owners Max and Melodie have the most beautiful attention to detail and have turned a simple farmstead into a gorgeous and relaxed, beautifully designed and decorated, and somewhat eclectic place to stay. And its just off kloof street…say what? You have to see it to realise its true beauty but for now these pics will have to do… : )

“La Grenadine is an elegant guesthouse tucked away in the bustling heart of Cape Town’s City Bowl.

Employing the best of local design talent, we had a lot of fun matching vintage and modern as we individually designed five beautiful en-suite bedrooms in a unique mix of industrial and French Provençal styles.

We see La Grenadine not merely as a guesthouse, but – whether it’s in the form of a debate in front of a wintry fire, or a summer evening party that moves to the music of our extensive record collection – as a home away from home. We’d like you to see it that way too. Feel free to borrow a book from our eclectic collection and read it in the orchard, select your favourite jazz or soul record, sip tea from antique Meakin crockery, or snuggle under French hand-embroidered linen while watching a DVD.”

And now they are now stocking some Handmade By Me items…look how beautiful their new guesthouse boutique looks…I am beside myself with delight!

For anyone who’s still wondering whether they’ll make the pre-christmas postal deadline, Handmade By Me is all stocked up and will be at the Neighbourgoodsmarket Christmas Night Market this Friday 14th of December. Any person will tell you, this is where the best selection of christmas goodies can be found. For any of you still wondering what to get who, pop in here, there’ll be something for everyone guaranteed.

And finally the day is almost here when one of my favourite online stockists Hello Pretty officially launches their shop to the public with a lovely designer market consisting of all the lovely products they stock. Now you can see everything you’ve been drooling over the past few months for real! And meet the people who make them! I myself already have a few items I have been eyeing out for a while now and can’t wait to see what the day has to offer. Its on at the lovely Woodstock Foundry and apparently there’s free candyfloss!! What more could a girl on a public holiday ask for : )

And a few of us lucky Hello Pretty designers found some of our products featured in Fair Lady‘s Fabulous Gift Guide. Here’s my Pink Flamingo! cushion cover…available from…..Hello Pretty : )

Finally I can unveil one of the projects I have been working on of late. My latest addition to the Handmade By Me family…lampshades! And not just any lampshades, custom made lampshades in any size and shape you can imagine. This one here was just a tester…and made in honour of last weekend’s Christmas Night Market (which the southeaster managed to ruin)…hence the choice to use my Indigo Red fabric. And this is only the beginning, my next one will be a scalloped fluted shade….oh yeah! I sure aint taking the easy road on this…so watch this space for more details and pics and please get in touch if you are interested in me making a lampshade specially for you!

All shots below were taken at last week’s Tjing Tjing Exchange, I couldn’t have asked for a better space to show off my goods : )

Here are the post office deadlines for any orders that you would like to receive by Christmas! I generally post items 1 to 2 days after the order has been placed. Items ordered on the deadline day will still be posted out the next day . Please note that it is hard to keep up to date with stock at the moment as it moves pretty quickly this time of year, so if you would like to find out about stock levels before ordering please email me, I am happy to help you during this crazy time of year!

Please also note that my studio will be closed from the 20th December to the 4th January so no orders will be posted out during that time, but you may place orders to be posted out when I am back, provided they are in stock.

NATIONAL AND LOCAL ORDERS DEADLINE
Last day to order with post office shipping option: Thursday 13th December
Last day to order with courier (same day and overnight): Tuesday 18th December

INTERNATIONAL ORDERS DEADLINE
Last day to order with post office shipping option: Thursday 6th December

I still have a few Christmas markets lined up so if you would like to avoid any shipping costs at all you will still have a few chances to get what you want. All market info and dates can be found here over the next few weeks.

Firstly I want to thank everyone who came to the Stellenbosch markets over the weekend. Despite the raging black southeaster friday night eventually turned out to be a success, and saturday was even better. What a beautiful venue. I really recommend venturing out to the Stellenbosch Slowmarket for their weekly market on a saturday! Oude Libertas is really gorgeous and there don’t seem to be any queues to the toilets or ATM despite the fact that it is a really busy market. There are plenty outdoor areas to hang out on the grass with views across the vineyards, and eat cheese and drink wine, and there’s live music! I will definitely be back!

And on this pretty dreary looking monday I thought I would show you my products in the YOU magazine Christmas Gift Guide this year! How exciting! And what a great selection. My Pretty Proteas cushion cover is featured in the “In Full Bloom” collection and my Blue Origami Birds Cushion Cover is featured in the “A Natural Thing” collection. See more images below, and both are available from me here.